Pooja Raj, Global ABM & Client Experience Leader at IBM, shares her journey from campaign execution to leading strategic, customer-centric ABM across global markets. In this conversation, she unpacks how to align marketing with sales, leverage audience insights to drive business outcomes, and lead agile, insight-driven programs that elevate marketing to deliver measurable impact.
It’s a pleasure to have you, Pooja. Could you tell us more about yourself and your marketing journey?
Thank you! I am excited to be here. My marketing journey spans over 14 years and has taken me from the foundations of data analytics and campaign execution to leading strategic initiatives focused on Account-Based Marketing (ABM), client experience, and agile transformation.
What has defined my path is a deep passion for building meaningful connections between brands and their most valuable customers. Over the years, I have gravitated toward ABM because it brings together the best of marketing insights, creativity, precision, and impact. Alongside ABM, I have also become a certified Agile Marketing Coach, helping teams adopt iterative, customer-first ways of working. I believe that agility isn’t just a framework, it is a mindset shift that enables marketers to stay relevant, responsive, and always in tune with the client’s evolving needs.
What are the key pillars of a successful demand generation strategy in today’s B2B landscape, especially when working across diverse geographies like APAC and MEA?
In today’s complex B2B landscape, especially across diverse regions, successful demand generation is anchored on four key pillars: audience insights, relevant storytelling, connected orchestration, and agile execution.
Audience Intelligence at the Core:
In regions where languages, customs, and buying dynamics can shift drastically, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Understanding decision-making, whether through consensus or hierarchical leadership, is essential. Leveraging intent signals, firmographic data, and buying group insights helps tailor targeting, not just in who we reach, but how and when we engage each segment.
Localized, Relevant Storytelling:
Even under a global campaign umbrella, storytelling must reflect regional aspirations, industry priorities, and cultural expectations. In emerging markets, the focus may be on transformation, while mature markets prioritize optimization. I’ve worked closely with field teams and partners to co-create content and formats that speak directly to these nuances, ensuring credibility and resonance.
Connected Ecosystems and Orchestration:
Demand generation thrives when marketing, sales, and partner ecosystems operate as one. This is especially true where partner influence is strong or in-person engagement is key. By integrating executive experiences, digital touchpoints, and ABM plays, we’ve orchestrated multi-touch journeys aligned with how buyers move from awareness to conversion across varied environments.
Agile Execution and Optimization:
Channel performance and buyer behavior differ significantly across markets. What works in one region may underperform in another. That’s why agility is critical. We’ve adopted agile marketing practices, A/B testing messaging, trialing new channels, and adapting formats based on real-time engagement. These test-and-learn cycles help us stay relevant, refine constantly, and respond quickly to shifting signals.
What’s your approach to designing account-specific strategies that effectively engage and convert high-value accounts?
My approach to designing account-specific strategies is deeply rooted in understanding customer pain points, insights, and orchestration. I don’t believe in templatized ABM. High-value accounts deserve high-value thinking.
Start with deep listening and insight mining
Every strategy begins with understanding the account at a human level beyond firmographics or buying stages. We invest time in analyzing annual reports, industry trends, and decision-maker behaviours to uncover what is truly driving that business.
Align marketing outcomes to account goals
ABM isn’t about pushing messaging; it is about enabling progress. We align marketing objectives with what the account is trying to achieve. Whether it is market expansion, tech innovation, or workforce agility, we ensure every tactic moves the account closer to its goals.
How do you approach budget allocation across channels to ensure both impact and efficiency in global marketing programs?
I work closely with cross-functional teams on budget allocation, guided by intentional prioritization, data-driven planning, and agile flexibility. Our goal is to invest where it matters most to drive both pipeline growth and meaningful client impact.
Start with clarity on business goals and account priorities
We always begin with the why. Budget decisions aren’t just about channel performance. They align with broader business outcomes. Whether expanding in a growth market or accelerating the pipeline with Tier 1 accounts, we partner with sales and market leaders to ensure investments reflect both regional priorities and opportunity size.
Balance brand, demand, and relationship-building
In B2B marketing, it’s never awareness or conversion. We take a portfolio approach across the funnel: brand and thought leadership at the top, engagement tactics like webinars in the middle, and high-touch ABM and experiential activations at the bottom.
Use data to optimize, not just plan
Historical performance, benchmarks, and intent signals shape our initial plans. But we don’t just set a budget and walk away. We monitor results consistently and reallocate quickly if something underperforms or a new opportunity emerges. Optimization is continuous.
Localize without losing efficiency
Balancing consistency and local relevance is always a challenge in global programs. We reserve part of the budget for regional customization. Whether translating assets, tailoring messaging, or supporting in-person events, to ensure relevance without sacrificing scale.
Build in agility and cross-functional collaboration
We work with finance, campaign teams, and regional marketers to maintain transparency and shared accountability. Our planning cycles are intentionally agile, enabling us to pivot as needed. Efficiency isn’t just about managing spending; it’s about maximizing marketing’s impact on revenue and influence.
“Regional B2B demand generation is about balancing global consistency with local adaptability, structured where needed and agile where it matters most.”
How do you leverage events to deepen client engagement and support your ABM goals?
From my perspective, events are not standalone tactics; they are critical touchpoints within an orchestrated ABM journey. I see them as immersive platforms to bring our value proposition to life in a way that is hyper-relevant to an account’s specific priorities.
I have leveraged a mix of flagship events and bespoke experiences such as executive roundtables, innovation sessions, and VIP engagements at hosted or industry forums to move key accounts further along the buyer journey. My approach always begins with deep account insights and tight alignment with sales around shared objectives, decision maker mapping, and what success looks like for each client.
For high-value accounts, I design comprehensive pre-, during-, and post-event engagement strategies. Pre-event, we focus on engaging the right personas with personalized outreach and tailored content that speaks to their business challenges. During the event, we prioritize curated 1:1 or small-group interactions such as executive briefings or hands-on solution showcases that demonstrate relevance and build trust. Post-event, I work closely with sales to deliver account-specific insights, co-create roadmaps, and accelerate momentum toward conversion.
What strategies have been most effective for you in aligning marketing, sales, customer success, and RevOps to drive unified business outcomes?
The most effective strategy has been creating alignment around a shared view of the customer and a common set of business goals. It starts with establishing a unified data foundation, ensuring all teams are working from the same insights when it comes to target accounts, pipeline health, whitespace, and customer engagement. This shared visibility enables more informed decision-making and better coordination across the entire revenue engine.
Equally important is cross-functional planning. Rather than operating in silos, we bring marketing, sales, customer success, and RevOps together to co-create integrated marketing programs and account strategies. This includes everything from joint pipeline acceleration efforts to expansion plays and retention campaigns. Regular syncs, shared dashboards, and clearly defined success metrics keep everyone focused and agile.
How have AI-enabled tools influenced the way you execute and scale ABM campaigns more precisely and efficiently?
AI tools have played a pivotal role in helping me execute ABM campaigns with greater precision, speed, and scale. From smarter account prioritization to hyper-personalized engagement, AI is helping us move from a reactive approach to a highly proactive, insight-driven strategy.
These tools allow us to tap into real-time intent signals, behavioural patterns, and predictive insights to identify which accounts are most likely to engage or convert. This ensures we are not just targeting the right accounts but doing so at the right time and with the right message.
Personalization has also become far more scalable. With generative AI capabilities, we can create tailored messaging, content, and offers that resonate with different buyer personas across industries, while we focus on the manual customization for each account, based on our discussions with the account teams and the immediate needs of the customer. Additionally, AI-driven orchestration helps us automate next-best actions based on live engagement data across marketing and sales touchpoints.
What advice would you give to marketers looking to move into strategic, customer-centric leadership roles?
My biggest advice is to develop a deep understanding of the customer and keep that as your north star. Strategic, customer-centric leadership is about more than just delivering campaigns; it is about solving real customer problems, creating value at every touchpoint, and driving outcomes that matter to the business.
Lean into cross-functional collaboration. The ability to connect the dots between marketing, sales, product, and customer success is what transforms a marketer into a business leader. Truly customer-centric leaders listen closely, use insights to anticipate needs, and build integrated strategies that serve both the client and the company.
Staying relevant is equally important. The landscape is evolving rapidly with AI, data, and automation reshaping how we work. My advice is to continuously invest in learning, whether that is mastering new technologies, exploring data analytics, or developing leadership and storytelling skills. Strategic leaders never stop evolving; they adapt, experiment, and lead from the front.
About Pooja Raj
Pooja Raj is a B2B marketing leader with 14+ years of experience driving brand visibility, customer engagement, and revenue growth. At IBM, she leads account-based marketing and client experience strategies across Tier 1 global events, focusing on executive engagement and opportunity acceleration. Her expertise spans ABM, campaign strategy, event marketing, and agile execution. Pooja is passionate about marketing innovation, mentoring teams, and building customer-first experiences that deliver measurable business impact.
